Faculty Directory

A

Allan, Richard
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Professor of Law Emeritus

Richard Allan’s scholarly work focuses on the legal and pragmatic issues of international terrorism. He is the author of numerous law review articles and several books addressing international and family law issues. He has chaired and co-chaired conferences and presented papers extensively in Europe and the United States on a wide range of topics related to international terrorism, violence, and civil rights. He has served as a governmental advisor on issues of international terrorism and is the Distinguished Scholar at the Center for Security and Counter-Terrorism Policy, and Senior Consultant at the East-West Institute, a think tank whose focus is Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He is also on the editorial board of Crime & Justice International.

Before joining the faculty in 1973, Professor Allan was in private practice. He also served as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office and as a producer/director with CBS television.

B

Bentele, Ursula
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Professor of Law Emerita

Professor Bentele teaches criminal and capital punishment law and directs the Capital Defender and Federal Habeas Clinic at Brooklyn Law School. She is a nationally recognized expert and established author on death penalty issues, appellate advocacy and the Constitutional Court of South Africa. She is the principal author of the widely used casebook, Appellate Advocacy: Principles and Practice, which released its 5th edition this year.

She has handled numerous death penalty cases in post-conviction proceedings and is a recipient of the New York City Bar’s Thurgood Marshall Award, which recognizes attorneys who have contributed time and expertise to represent people sentenced to death. She also participated in the Capital Jury Project funded by the National Science Foundation, in which she helped to analyze interviews of over 1,000 jurors who had participated in cases where a death sentence was possible.

Professor Bentele joined the faculty in 1981, after having served with the Legal Aid Society in its Criminal Defense Division and its Civil Appeals and Law Reform Unit.

C

Crea, Joseph
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Professor of Law Emeritus

Professor Crea has been teaching at Brooklyn Law School for over five decades. In recognition of his numerous contributions to the Brooklyn Law School community, in 1998 the Joseph Crea Dean chair was established in his name. Among his many professional achievements are authoring A Guide to Legal Research, serving on a Mayor’s Committee for the Selection of Marshals, and serving as judge advocate for a veterans’ group. He has also been honored with a Distinguished Achievement Award by his alma mater, Brooklyn College.

Before joining the faculty in 1947, he worked as a librarian at the Law School. He also served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Professor Crea's life and career were the subject of a feature article in the summer 1998 issue of BLS LawNotes. Read the article here.

B.A., Brooklyn College

J.D., LL.M., LL.D., Brooklyn Law School

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Falk, Mary
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Professor of Law Emerita

Professor Falk joined the faculty in 1987, teaches a variety of legal writing courses, and is a supervisor of the Jerome Prince Memorial Evidence Competition. She has co-authored several widely used reference texts for law students, in addition to Appellate Advocacy: Principles and Practice (Aspen 4th ed. 2012) with Professor Bentele. She has also collaborated on several articles and books with Professor Fajans in the area of cognitive theory and language and the law.

Professor Emeritus Richard T. Farrell ’64, a member of the faculty for more than 50 years and a leading authority on New York Civil Practice Law and Rules, died on February 7, 2018, at age 80. Read more about Professor Farrell’s life and career here.

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Hauptman, Martin
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Professor of Law Emeritus

Martin Hauptman teaches tax and accounting courses at Brooklyn Law School, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1965. He is the author of Federal Taxation - Compendium of Federal Income, Estate and Gift Taxation and its annual update, and tax law books for the Brooklyn Bar Association. He serves as the alternate representative to the Research Advisory Group on Public Corporations of the Joint Legislative Committee to Study Revision of Corporate Laws, and is a lecturer for the Practicing Law Institute on federal taxation.

William Hellerstein is an expert in criminal law and procedure and, in particular, constitutional litigation. The New York State Bar Association has honored him twice with awards for “Outstanding Contribution to the Delivery of Defense Services” and “Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Criminal Law Education,” and the New York Civil Liberties Union has honored him for his contribution to the cause of civil liberties. Brooklyn College has also awarded him its Distinguished Alumnus Medal.

He has been a member of the faculty at Brooklyn Law School since 1985. He is also an experienced civil rights litigation and appellate advocacy authority, having served for 16 years as Attorney-in-Charge of the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Appeals Bureau, where he was also the founder of the Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project and Parole Revocation Defense Unit. He has argued numerous cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the New York State Courts.

Professor Hellerstein served for many years as special counsel for pro bono matters at Proskauer Rose, where he coordinated the pro bono program. He is also a former vice president of the New York City Bar, and chairperson of its Executive Committee and of its Council on Criminal Justice. He was also co-chairperson of the New York State Commission on Indigent Defense, a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Wrongful Convictions, and he is a Permanent Member of the New York State Justice Task Force, established by New York’s Chief Judge to investigate the causes of wrongful convictions.

B.A., Brooklyn College

J.D., Harvard Law School

K

Kuklin, Bailey
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Professor of Law Emeritus

Professor Kuklin’s scholarly focus is on the philosophy of the common law, and he teaches Contracts, Torts, and Jurisprudence. He is the co-author of Foundations of Law: An Interdisciplinary and Jurisprudential Primer, the author of numerous law review articles, and is affiliated with the Center for Law, Language & Cognition.

He joined the faculty in 1976, after teaching at the University of Tennessee College of Law and serving as assistant dean of the University of Michigan Law School. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School, and was a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellow with the Legal Aid Society in Westchester County.

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Minda, Gary
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Professor of Law Emeritus

A prolific scholar in the fields of labor law, antitrust law and jurisprudence, Gary Minda joined the faculty in 1978. He is the author of several books that address ideology and postmodernism, and has studied Michael Davitt, a 19th century Irish revolutionary leader and thinker. He served as a Reader in Residence at Trinity College in Dublin, where he researched the Davitt biography.

Professor Minda has been a distinguished visiting professor of law at several law schools around the country. He chairs the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Law & Interpretation.

B.A., Michigan State University
M.A., Wayne State University
S.J.D., Wayne State University Law School

P

Pinto, Arthur
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Professor of Law Emeritus

Professor Pinto is co-director of The Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law. He teaches Agency and Partnership, Contracts, Comparative Corporate Governance, Corporate Law and Corporate Finance. His area of expertise is in United States and comparative corporate law, which he has explored in his writings and having served several times as the National Reporter for the Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law. He has been a frequent visiting lecturer on American corporate and securities law at LUISS University in Rome. He has been a visiting professor at New York University and George Washington Law Schools.

Before joining the law school faculty, he was a professor of law at Seton Hall Law School. Prior to teaching he practiced corporate and bankruptcy law at Weil, Gotshal &Manges in New York City. He is faculty advisor to OUTLAWS and directs the law school’s foreign summer study programs.

Norman Poser is a widely respected expert in international and domestic securities regulation. He is the author of the books Broker-Dealer Law and Regulation, and International Securities Regulation: London's "Big Bang" and the European Securities Markets, and numerous law review articles in these fields. He is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on the Advisory Board of Standard & Poor's The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation. He retired from teaching in 2007.

Prior to joining Brooklyn Law School's faculty in 1980, he was with the American Stock Exchange as executive vice president for legal and regulatory affairs and senior vice president of policy planning and governmental relations. He was also in private practice, and an assistant director of the Division of Trading and Markets of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also served as a consultant and expert witness in connection with securities litigation and arbitrations for the New York State Attorney General, World Bank, Organization of American States, United States Agency for International Development, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the New York Stock Exchange and other securities exchanges.

A.B., Harvard College

LL.B., Harvard University Law School

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Schultze, Gary
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Professor of Law Emeritus

Director of Brooklyn Legal Services for the Elderly, and a fellow of the Hunter Brookdale Center on Aging. He joined the faculty in 1970, and initiated the law school's first clinical program.

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Walter, Marilyn
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Professor of Law Emerita

Professor Walter is the former director of the Law School’s highly acclaimed Legal Writing Program. Her book, Writing and Analysis in the Law, is a widely used first-year legal writing text. She is also the co-author of the first edition of the Sourcebook on Legal Writing Programs. A leader in her field, Professor Walter was the recipient of the 2005 Association of American Law School Legal Writing Award in recognition of her “pioneering leadership, extraordinary vision, and outstanding service.” She has been Chair of the Legal Writing section of the AALS, a member of the Board of the Legal Writing Institute, a members of the ABA’s Committee on Communication Skills, and an Editorial Committee member of the Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors. Professor Walter has been a speaker on numerous panels at legal writing conferences. Most recently, she was invited to be a panelist at the 25th anniversary conference of the Legal Writing Institute.

Before she joined the faculty in 1980, she was a legal writing instructor at New York University Law School and a staff attorney at the National Employment Law Project.

In spring 2008, she was a Visiting Professor at the University of Delhi Law School.

Joan G. Wexler is Dean and President Emerita of Brooklyn Law School. She served as the Law School's President from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2013 and was Dean and President from 1994 until June 30, 2010. Prior to that, she was the Law School’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. She has been a member of the faculty since 1985. She previously taught at New York University School of Law, practiced as an associate with the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton, and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York.

President Wexler is a prominent member of the legal community. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute. She served as President of the Federal Bar Council from 2004 to 2006 and Vice-President from 2001 to 2004. She chaired the 2002 FBC Winter Bench and Bar Conference and currently sits on its Executive Committee. She also was President of the Federal Bar Foundation from 1998 to 1999. President Wexler has held leadership roles in a number of bar associations. At the Association of the Bar of the New York City, she served as Vice-President, chaired the Committee on Honors, and was a member of the Nominating, Long Range Planning, Matrimonial, and Family Court Committees. At the Women’s Bar Association, she served twice as its Vice-President and was a member of its Board of Directors. She was a member of the American Bar Association’s Independent Law Schools Forum Committee, and has served on its Continuing Legal Education, New Deans’ Seminar Planning Committees, and Data and Policy Committee. President Wexler is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation as well as the New York Bar Foundation. She has served as a member of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar.

Among her extensive professional and community activities, President Wexler has served on the Board of Directors of the Practicing Law Institute and the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. She has also served on the boards of the American Judicature Society, the American Law Deans Association, the Children’s Law Center, and the Fund for Modern Courts. President Wexler was a member of the Committee to Restore the Thurgood Marshall Landmark Courthouse, the Planning and Program Committee of the Judicial Conference of the Second Circuit, and the Judicial Conference of the State of New York. She was a member of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Online System for Clerkship Application & Review (OSCAR) Working Group and currently serves on the United States Magistrate Judge Selection Committee for the Eastern District of New York

At Cornell University, President Wexler is a member the Cornell University Council and serves on its Admissions & Financial Aid and Public Relations Committees. She is an emerita member of the President's Council of Cornell Women and is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Human Ecology. From 2004 to 2007 she was a member of the Yale Law Journal Alumni Advisory Board.

President Wexler received numerous honors for her commitment to the advancement of the interests of adolescents and their families and for her leadership in the legal community. Among her many honors are an Honorary Doctor of Laws from St. Francis College, the President’s Special Award and the Special Recognition Award from the New York Women’s Bar Association, an Outstanding Women of the Bar Honoree from the New York County Lawyers’ Association, a Special Award from the National Association of Women Judges, the Good Scout Award from the Greater Boy Scouts Council of New York, the William Shoenfeld Award from the Society for Adolescent Psychiatry, and the President’s Award from the New York State Court Officers Association.

President Wexler is a graduate of Cornell University, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Yale Law School, where she was Articles Editor of the Yale Law Journal.